Saturday, December 23, 2023

Surprise Saturday! Today it's: How to Watch a Classic Noir Movie and Not Feel Bad About It By Connie Vines


 Aaaaaah, the weekend. You survived another week of working, commuting, and remembering everything required to stay alive. 

Congrats. 

Now it's time to relax, right?

I hear your hysterical laughter and snorts of disbelief because you think it isn't possible. Well, it is possible. Really.

Perhaps not EVERY single Saturday. However, you can free up one or two Saturdays a month.

How? I chose my most dreaded chore: laundry. I washed, folded, and put away several loads of laundry three evenings this week.

Of course, I didn't lounge on the couch all day or cloister myself in a dark closet with my tablet to watch a movie. I placed a DVD 🎥in the player and plopped on a wingback chair. Where my iced espresso and bowl of popcorn were within reach. 🍿 


The Trailer is posted on Wikipedia. 


Noir: 
Film noir (French: "dark film") style of filmmaking is characterized by such elements as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy. The genre was prevalent mostly in American crime dramas of the post-World War II era.


Movie: 
Laura, an American film noir released in 1944, is considered a classic of the genre. The movie, directed by Otto Preminger, is notable as a suspenseful mystery and a compelling account of obsession.


Plot:
In one of the most celebrated 1940s film noirs, Manhattan detective 🔎 Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigates the murder of Madison Avenue executive Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) in her fashionable apartment. On the trail of her murderer, McPherson quizzes Laura's arrogant best friend, gossip columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), and her comparatively mild fiancé, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price). As the detective grows obsessed with the case, he finds himself falling in love with the dead woman.


My takeaway:

I enjoyed the movie. Made for a viewing audience in the 1940s, it is slower-paced, and social norms of the time will not compute to those who have no concept of "accurate portrayals of history." The hero is arrogant but a gentleman. Everyone smokes cigarettes, and clothes are very formal.

It is a thinking person's movie. The pauses. The shadows. The twists and turns. The intensity. The dark moments. The perfect way to spend an overcast or rainy afternoon.

The music leaves its haunting melody on your soul.


 Wishing you a wonderful week, 

Connie














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